


The Path to Healing

by Frentzfries



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Crack Treated Seriously, F/F, No Lesbians Die, Vague PTSD Warning, complete utter bullshit, petting zoos
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-04
Updated: 2020-10-04
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:41:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26804551
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frentzfries/pseuds/Frentzfries
Summary: Hermione and Cho are in love. Harry died fighting the dementors in Book 3. Cedric is still dead. They help each other heal, forget about Neville a whole lot, and save the world at The Battle of Hogwarts.
Relationships: Cho Chang/Hermione Granger
Comments: 9
Kudos: 14





	The Path to Healing

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this in 4 hours because I have been binging "Fanatical Fics and where to find them." I am so sorry, please forgive me, God.

Hermione stuck the Sword of Gryffindor into the mossy ground outside Hagrid’s hut and sighed. Protego Maxima was now up, offering a brief respite for the weary warrior. She winced as she removed her armor which had been pinching her shoulder, and looked up to see Cho running towards her.

“Where have you been?” Cho asked, panic and confusion filling her face.

“Just trying to save the world, how about you?” Hermione replied with a tired sideways grin.

Cho pinched Hermione’s obviously hurt shoulder and sat down next to her, squeezing her hand.. The past few months had been hell for the two of them.To maintain control of the school, Snape had separated the Houses. . Hermione and Cho had only had to send messages to each other with the assistance of Nearly Headless Nick, who, while being very willing to help, was also very bad at his job. Most of their carefully thought out declarations of affection or hopeful dreams of escape together had morphed into indecipherable nonsense. This was their first moment together after the retaking of the castle.

“I don’t know what to say,” Hermione said.

“I love you too, Granger,” Cho said.

They smiled at each other, but were interrupted by a familiar whining.

“Hermione… Dementors… Quidditch Pitch,” Neville wheezed. He looked at the two of them together and apologized silently.

Hermione picked up the sword and threw her armor on once more. Cho grabbed her wand and whistled to Buckbeak. Her trusty familiar swooped in to stand by her side.

“You can’t come with me, Cho,” Hermione grumbled.

“You’re funny, Granger,” Cho said before signalling to Buckbeak to scoop up the reluctant witch. She jumped on and patted Buckbeak's side before taking off towards the pitch.

“I reckon I’ll walk back then,” Neville whimpered to himself, watching his friends rise higher into the sky..

Now en route to the pitch, Cho and Hermione gazed at the cloud of Dementors congregating there. There was a massive hole in the Protego Maxima, and more of the spectres were pooling in every second. 

“I’ll close the hole, you deal with them,” Cho ordered.

“...I don’t know if I can,” Hermione said, “Not after finding Harry--”

“...AND YOU WERE GOING TO COME ALONE, YOU BLITHERING IDIOT!” Cho screamed at her.

“I DIDN’T KNOW THERE WOULD BE THIS MANY!”

“Then _I’ll_ deal with them and _you_ close the hole.”.

“You mean on your HORSE CHICKEN DEATH MACHINE.”

“DON’T YOU SPEAK TO BUCKBEAK THAT WAY,” Cho scolded. Then, to the hippogriff, “She didn’t mean it, love.”

Cho jumped off her steed and apparrated to the ground, landing safely on the grass. She immediately began to cast Patronus after Patronus, until a tremendous flock of snow white swans plowed into the cloud of dementors, illuminating the surrounding area. However, for every dementor repelled, two more took its place.

“You need to close that hole, Granger!” Cho called up to Hermione.

Hermione tried to steady her wand in front of her to repair the hole, but could not focus. Images of Harry’s corpse lying there in the Forbidden Forest flashed in her mind--he memory of his drained body made it impossible to confront the monsters that caused it-- 

_You’re ok, you’re safe._

Hermione heard those familiar words in her mind. The words that Cho used to heal her all these years together were now being broadcasted in her brain.

_You know I hate that,_ Hermione thought back as hard as she could.

_Too fucking bad, Granger. Now get to it and close up that bloody hole_!

Hermione steadied her wand still flying atop Buckbeak, and began to recite the incantation. It was shaky, but Cho’s words of “encouragement” had done their job

On the ground, Cho was making some headway. Dementors were being chased away by Cho’s ill-behaved swans. The trumpeting of the swans’ honks was too much for the ghouls to manage. Until, suddenly…

“ _STUPEFY!_ ”

Cho was flung back, hitting the ground hard, pain shooting across her entire body. She looked up to see a figure walking up to her now limp body. The shadow then picked her up and threw her over their shoulder. They then apparrated away. 

Hermione finished mending the wall, and looked back to see… nothing. No dementors, and no Cho.

“Buckbeak, bring me down!” Hermione ordered in a panic.

Hermione lowered herself off of the Hippogriff, and began to frantically search the area. 

“Hello? Cho--CHO! Where are you? Please don’t be gone, please--”

There--a patch of dirt with blood on it. Right next to the splotch of red was letters written into the dirt:

_GL_

Hermione was paralyzed; it had happened again. Dropping her sword and wand to the ground, she fell to her knees and wept. She was stuck there for what seemed like multiple lifetimes before some more ill-timed wheezing pulled her out of her self-pity.

“Hermione… Death Eaters… Astronomy Tower!” Neville reported weakly, catching his breath, which he had been chasing after all day.

Hermione shot up. Maybe Cho had been taken there!

“Buckbeak!” Hermione called, jumping onto the beast’s back an instant later and flying towards the tower.

“No, that’s ok, I’ll just fuck off on my own,” Neville grumbled.

Hermione landed at the front door of the castle. She raised her sword and ran in. The entire castle was filled with snakes, and just like the Irish before her, she was ready to chase them out. 

The warrior witch ran through the castle, hacking and slashing her way through the serpents, until finally reaching the foot of the spire, where, she hoped, her beloved was being held. She flung open the doors and walked up the (unguarded) winding staircase. She opened the doors to the observatory at the top of the tower when she heard the low hissing sound of Parseltongue.

Upon walking in she was greeted by the sight of Cho, sitting at a table, tangled in a web of Devil’s Snare, the familiar look of disassociation on her face. She was flanked on either side by the Dark Lord and Nagini, both of whom seemed to be having a rather pleasant conversation over tea. 

“How kind of you to join us, Mudblood princess,” said the Dark Lord, putting down his teacup.

“Hssss,” said Nagini.

_Wake up, stupid,_ Hermione thought at Cho. _I kind of need you right now!_

_“_ Well that’s no way to talk to your partner,” Voldemort mocked. “Did you really think you could do that right in front of a master Legilimens?”

Hermione screamed and, in a fit of rage, threw the Sword of Gryffindor at the Dark Lord. He dodged it, but upon turning back, Hermione cast the Cruciatus Curse on him. As he writhed in pain on the ground, Hermione heard Nagini hiss behind her. She turned around to see the snake coiling up to attack, but before she could--

“ _Accio_ Sword of Gryffindor!”

Neville appeared behind the snake and, with the sword in his hand, delivered the killing blow. 

“NEXT TIME, BLOODY TAKE ME WITH YOU, YOU SELFISH, SELFISH, FUCKING PEOPLE. GOD DAMN IT.”

Hermione ignored him and turned back to the Dark Lord, who was recovering from the curse. She cast it again and shouted at him unintelligibly, weeping as she did. Neville watched in noticeable pain and, when he could take no more, begged for Hermione to stop. 

But she couldn’t hear him. She was no longer in the room, there was only her and her pain. Neville walked up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.

“Please stop Hermione. This isn’t you. You don’t deserve this and he isn’t worth it.”

But she still didn’t hear him. Neville saw that she couldn’t stop. He saw that there was only way to stop her from completely losing herself to her hate.

“ _Avada Kedavra!”_

It was done. Neville put the Dark Lord out of his misery, and Hermione fell to the ground. 

Cho watched, completely outside of her own body, at the events that had just taken place. She wanted to help, but couldn’t. The Dark Lord had trapped her in her own mind, and visions of her past trauma with Cedric filled it. 

She knew that Hermione was trying her best to reach out to her, and that the Dark Lord is no longer blocking it, but she still felt so alone. She tried her best to reach out to Hermione, but she was too weak. She hoped that soon the Devil’s Snare would just close up. Until…

“ _STUPEFY!”_

Neville was thrown to the ground and knocked out cold. Hermione looked up and finally understood Cho’s message on the ground. 

“Professor Lockhart?!”

“Yes, it is I, Gilderoy Lockhart, and you have truly muddied my plans haven’t you?”

It was now Lockhart’s turn to cast the Cruciatus Curse on Hermione. As her body contorted in pain, Lockhart gave his villain’s speech, as he had rehearsed it in his head.

“Voldy was meant to be the figurehead. The patsy that the whole world looked to to target their hate. Meanwhile, I was meant to continue to be adored by the public, while still controlling the situation from the shadows. I was meant to have the best of both worlds, but YOU RUINED THAT FOR ME.” Lockhart roared as he tortured Hermione, as she had done to his pawn. 

In a final effort to save her own life and that of her beloved, Hermione reached out with her mind to Cho.

_Cho, I love you. Please wake up_

Cho finally heard her, saw what was happening and was having NONE OF IT. She immediately returned to her body, cast _incendio_ on the vines that confined her, and went on the offensive on the startled Lockhart.

“ _Expelliarmus!”_

Cho hopped onto the tea table in front of her, knocking over the teapot and an ornate vase filled with daisies. Lockhart roared, unsure of whether he was more mad about the inconvenient timing of her awakening or the sheer chutzpah of ruining his table settings.

Sparks flew as the gallant Cho and Lockhart faced off in battle. Cho reached out with her mind to Hermione for help, but her girlfriend was still on the floor, recovering from the curse placed on her.

_YOU GODDAMN FOOL! IF WE BOTH DIE BECAUSE YOU NEEDED A POWER NAP, I SWEAR TO GOD I WILL FUCKING KILL YOU._

She chanted this threat over and over while blocking spells, curses and charms, and sending out her own. Eventually, Hermione heard it and, with her last ounce of energy, grasped her wand and cast one final transfiguration spell. 

Lockhart was turned into a goose.

“Fucking-- _really?_ ” Cho explained, panting for air and completely dumbfounded by her idiot girlfriend.

“Seemed appropriate,” Hermione weakly replied before passing out.

~*~

Several weeks passed before Hermione fully recovered. Cho spent every day and night with her, constantly reminding her how fucking stupid she was. Lockhart, now a goose, was placed into the Hogwarts petting zoo. The two witches did not feel it necessary to explain Lockhart’s involvement with Voldemort, as they found it incredibly confusing. Neville was hailed a hero for dealing the final blow against the Dark Lord; Hermione, Cho and he decided to leave out the part where he got knocked out immediately after. Hermione learned to love Buckbeak and now brought him fresh fish once a week to pay her respects. 

Lockhart, now known as Terry, finally got the fame he desired as he was deemed Hogwarts’ most annoying fowl. He is slated for his final performance on Christmas Eve, for dinner.

THE END

  
  


_._

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this dumpster fire. I am also sorry. Please review.


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